Costco History
The History of Costco Wholesale
DeAna Castro
Wilmington University
MGT 6501
Abstract
Costco is a members only, international retail chain discount warehouse Club. They combine high quality merchandise with low prices. Costco began in 1976 as Price Club and restructured in 1997 as Costco Wholesales. Costco’s passion, mission, and ethics have been the key to the leading membership warehouse retail giant to supply their customers with low prices. Their low cost business strategies and dedication to their employees, suppliers and shareholders have proven success.
The History of Costco The history of Costco began in July, 1976, in San Diego, California, and its name was Price Club. It was cofounded by Sol and Robert Price. The newly designed business was the first ‘warehouse’ business of it’s kind. This retail business originally targeted other business owners, but blended retail and wholesale. Price Club had unbeatable low prices and sold bulk items. Three years later, 1979, Price Club expanded two new locations. They acquired 200,000 members and profited 1 million dollars. Price Cub showed a loss of profits the first year, but the expansion proved profitable. Jim Sinegal is a key player to the success of Costco because he started his career being mentored by Sol Price. He worked in the warehouse business at Price Club and another warehouse business called Fedmart, both owned by Sol Price. (Cardon). In 1983, Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brottman would open their own warehouse club near Seattle Washington, and it was called Costco (Daft, 2012 pp. 605). One year later, Costco expanded to nine warehouses in five states. It was not long before Price Club realized they could achieve larger cliental if they served a selected audience of ‘non-business’ members. This payed off by the year 1984, Price Club sales would be greater than one billion dollars and is the first company to achieve this mark in a six year period. Almost ten years later, 1993,
DeAna Castro
Wilmington University
MGT 6501
Abstract
Costco is a members only, international retail chain discount warehouse Club. They combine high quality merchandise with low prices. Costco began in 1976 as Price Club and restructured in 1997 as Costco Wholesales. Costco’s passion, mission, and ethics have been the key to the leading membership warehouse retail giant to supply their customers with low prices. Their low cost business strategies and dedication to their employees, suppliers and shareholders have proven success.
The History of Costco The history of Costco began in July, 1976, in San Diego, California, and its name was Price Club. It was cofounded by Sol and Robert Price. The newly designed business was the first ‘warehouse’ business of it’s kind. This retail business originally targeted other business owners, but blended retail and wholesale. Price Club had unbeatable low prices and sold bulk items. Three years later, 1979, Price Club expanded two new locations. They acquired 200,000 members and profited 1 million dollars. Price Cub showed a loss of profits the first year, but the expansion proved profitable. Jim Sinegal is a key player to the success of Costco because he started his career being mentored by Sol Price. He worked in the warehouse business at Price Club and another warehouse business called Fedmart, both owned by Sol Price. (Cardon). In 1983, Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brottman would open their own warehouse club near Seattle Washington, and it was called Costco (Daft, 2012 pp. 605). One year later, Costco expanded to nine warehouses in five states. It was not long before Price Club realized they could achieve larger cliental if they served a selected audience of ‘non-business’ members. This payed off by the year 1984, Price Club sales would be greater than one billion dollars and is the first company to achieve this mark in a six year period. Almost ten years later, 1993,
References: Branch, S. (1999, 09 06). Inside the cult of costco. Fortune, 140(5), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=acf1a04d-bld9-440c-9019-e786ca768e32@s Cardon, B. (n.d.). Costco company history. Retrieved from http://goarticles.com/article/Costco-Company-History/4651134 Costco Wholesale Corporation SWOT Analysis. (2011) Costco Wholesale Corporation SWOT Analysis. Daft, R. (2013). Organizational theory & design. (11 ed., pp. 54-61). Canada: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Walker, S. (2011, 05 16). The history of costco. Retrieved from http://www.vendor.com/_blog/VENDORCO_BLOG/post/The_Hisory_of_Costco Retrieved from http://www.costco.co.jp/eng/costco.htm Retrieved from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&p=irol-homeprofile Retrieved from http://priceviewer.com/costco/costco.htm Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/91/Costco-Wholesale-Corporation.html